La Jolla Institute named one of top places to work

By Chris Scott
| 1:57 p.m.Aug. 6, 2012
| Updated,
6:47 p.m.

La Jolla Institute scientists Alessandro Sette, Ph.D., (left) and Howard Grey, M.D., discuss a major research project related to vaccine development. The Institute is recognized as one of the top medical research institutions in the world focused on harnessing the immune system’s mechanisms to fight disease. It has received two major recognitions this year as being among the world’s “Best Places to Work” in academic research.
Courtesy of the La Jolla Institute

La Jolla Institute scientists Alessandro Sette, Ph.D., (left) and Howard Grey, M.D., discuss a major research project related to vaccine development. The Institute is recognized as one of the top medical research institutions in the world focused on harnessing the immune system’s mechanisms to fight disease. It has received two major recognitions this year as being among the world’s “Best Places to Work” in academic research.

The La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology — which is sometimes overshadowed by other local research institutes, such as the Salk Institute and UC San Diego— was named as one of the 10 best places in academia for scientists to work.

In the survey by The Scientist magazine, the La Jolla Institute ranked among such renowned research centers as Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, The J. David Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco, and Sage Bionetworks in Seattle.

Mitchell Kronenberg, president and chief science officer of the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology
— La Jolla Institute

Mitchell Kronenberg, president and chief science officer of the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology
/ La Jolla Institute

Best Places to Work in Academia

4) Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria

5) Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston

6) La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology, La Jolla

7) Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle

8) St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn.

9) Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

10) Blood Systems Research Institute, San Francisco

Source: The Scientist magazine

This is the second time this year that the institute was honored for its work environment. The Scientist also named it seventh in its survey, "Best places to work for post-docs."

"There's a real spirit of collegiality here," said Mitchell Kronenberg, president and chief science officer of LJI. "There's a lack of bureaucracy and a real sense of happiness among the researchers that you don't normally see at other institutions."

Kronenberg, who has been president for the past nine years, said that the institute's heavy research focus on immunology also promotes a healthy work environment. Researchers are able to critique and analyze each others work and share ideas among peers.

"It's an assembly of fantastic scientists focusing on immunology, which is quite rare," said Klaus Ley, head of the institute's division of inflammation biology. "People are here because they want to be here."

For post-docs, the institute emphasizes independence in their work.

"One of the goals for trainees is for them to be able to stand on their own two feet," Kronenberg said. "I don't constantly stand over their shoulder."

Founded in 1988, the Institute consists of more than 150 Ph.D's and M.D.'s, whose research focuses on understanding the immune system and the prevention and treatment of disorders such as cancer, Crohn's disease and asthma.